Posted on 05/22/2009 10:35:31 AM PDT by JoeProBono
Homestead Air Reserve Base near Miami, Florida, is dealing with a different sort of small ground invasion: the Nile monitor lizard.
These invasive reptiles—possibly former family pets or escapees from nearby breeding facilities—occasionally lumber onto the base's tarmac to soak up the sun's rays.
"When you have an airplane coming in to land or take off, and you have a 6-foot [1.8-meter] reptile laying on the runway, it causes a substantial human health and safety problem," said Parker Hall, a wildlife biologist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services.
Agency employees patrol the runways on a regular basis to shoo away birds, capture lizards, and deal with any other pests that may show up.
But that's a tall order given the base's close proximity to both the Everglades and Biscayne National Parks, both home to diverse arrays of wildlife that regularly spill into the base's vast woodlands and wetlands.
Lizard Explosion
Invasive lizards in southern Florida—such as the monitor, native to Africa—now outnumber native species, experts say.
These hefty predators—weighing up to 30 pounds (13.6 kilograms)—have a voracious appetite, and have been observed eating protected species such as the burrowing owl.
In nearly two decades monitor lizards have been spotted in seven Floridian counties, with the biggest breeding population living in Cape Coral, a city on the state's west coast.
heh I thought it was Wally Walrus
There’s simple solution. Tell Cajuns they are good to eat and out of season. Problem solved
One small problem with this solution, there are no Cajuns in Miami.
Spread the rumor and they will come!
;-)
Just like chicken!
However after careful thought there seems to be little differences between 6ft liberals and 6ft lizards, save for the fact that the lizards dont vote (YET!!)
Mmmmmm, dinner *and* a belt.
my initial scanning the headline read as “6 FT Liberals”.
However after careful thought there seems to be little differences between 6ft liberals and 6ft lizards, save for the fact that the lizards dont vote (YET!!)
Thanks for the ping!
Love it.
Thanks.
That’s not 100% joke! LOL.
LOL.
Has the thing been trained in any sense of the word . . . other than to come at the sound of dinner?
Uhhhh . . . what’s great about a cold blooded . . . reptoid?
They aren’t warm and fuzzy.
I doubt they sit up and beg.
They probably don’t do flips.
I doubt they fetch.
I doubt they can play frisbee.
They might be able to do a good imitation of rolling over and playing dead on a sunny day.
They might be good for scaring away neighborhood kiddies.
But really—in what ways do they make great pets?
Petting such a pet . . . must be a lot like . . . uhhhh
petting Helen Thomas’ crusty scalp . . .
or Nancy Puhlousey’s crusty lying tongue . . .
not my cuppa tea.
I thought this was gonna be a truck stop lot lizard thread !
Ahhhhhh
renegades from
“V”
I see. I see.
Let me know when they start eating the large pythons there.
“It comes from a very ancient democracy, you see...”
“You mean, it comes from a world of lizards?”
“No,” said Ford, who by this time was a little more rational and coherent than he had been, having finally had the coffee forced down him, “nothing so simple. Nothing anything like to straightforward. On its world, the people are people. The leaders are lizards. The people hate the lizards and the lizards rule the people.”
“Odd,” said Arthur, “I thought you said it was a democracy.”
“I did,” said ford. “It is.”
“So,” said Arthur, hoping he wasn’t sounding ridiculously obtuse, “why don’t the people get rid of the lizards?”
“It honestly doesn’t occur to them,” said Ford. “They’ve all got the vote, so they all pretty much assume that the government they’ve voted in more or less approximates to the government they want.”
“You mean they actually vote for the lizards?”
“Oh yes,” said Ford with a shrug, “of course.”
“But,” said Arthur, going for the big one again, “why?”
“Because if they didn’t vote for a lizard,” said Ford, “the wrong lizard might get in. Got any gin?”
Really. I shouldn’t laugh. I REALLY shouldn’t have shown that to my grandson. We are DYIN’ HERE!
LOL!!!!!!!
...and Brad sez: Rawr.
I see. Whenever you get bit by a rattlesnake you go for the Wild Turkey?
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